Arman Tsarukyan issues short statement in response to Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett title fight announcement
UFC lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan has given his thoughts on the promotion booking Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett in an interim lightweight title fight at UFC 324.
Last weekend at UFC Qatar, Arman Tsarukyan was able to dominate and defeat Dan Hooker within two rounds. Off the back of such a comprehensive victory, Arman himself noted that he felt like he was ready to step up to the championship level. He even said that he would be willing to turn around quickly and compete on the upcoming Paramount card in January.
Unfortunately, the UFC had other plans. After Ilia Topuria announced that he would be taking a brief hiatus from mixed martial arts to deal with some personal issues, Dana White revealed that the aforementioned Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett would fight for the interim belt at UFC 324.
Understandably, a lot of people didn’t quite understand why Arman Tsarukyan wasn’t factoring into their plans. In a short statement on social media, Tsarukyan made his feelings perfectly clear.
Arman Tsarukyan reacts to being overlooked for UFC interim title fight
“Make it make sense [facepalm emoji]”.
Some fans have pointed out that Arman has had to pull out of fights in the past, and also that he had a long lay-off prior to his big win over Dan Hooker. Either way, though, this is one of a few different moves made by Dana White and the matchmakers that have left the masses scratching their heads.
In terms of what Tsarukyan does from here, it’s really hard to say. Dana has confirmed that Topuria will not defend the belt against Tsarukyan next, or at least, he essentially did when he said that Ilia will face the winner of Gaethje vs Pimblett.
The lightweight division is full of absolute killers, and Arman is certainly one of them, but it’s clear to see that he isn’t the UFC’s favorite.
